The Dragons scored their first victory of the year on Friday night, snapping a five-game skid to start the season with a 21-7 triumph at Hammonton.

Kingsway entered this weekend’s slate with the lowest power-point total in the loaded South Jersey Group 5 bracket, and while the win will certainly elevate them a spot or two, a postseason berth is likely out of reach.

But the team’s far from dragon fodder.

All five of Kingsway’s losses this year came to programs currently in the thick of their respective playoff fields. Four of the Dragons’ setbacks came to teams ranked in the South Jersey Mean 15, and they were within striking distance in three of their contests, losing by four to Williamstown on opening night, three to Cherokee and were within two at halftime of Delsea.

Their record was 0-5, which “says” they were a bad team. Except they weren’t.

“We don’t play like an 0-5 team,” senior starting quarterback Joel Scerbo said. “We’re going to Cherokee losing by 3 points, going to Williamstown losing by 4 points, our games are close. It’s not like they’re blowouts. We’re competing with these teams. … We’re standing side by side with ‘em.”

Just not in the standings.

Moral victories are well and good, but they can only boost morale so high.

“It is extremely hard,” Scerbo said.

That’s why Friday’s victory was so meaningful.

“When you lose it’s next week you got to grind harder, next week you got to grind harder until you finally get that win,” senior lineman Gavin Watson said. “It’s just a really good feeling now.”

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One the Dragons deserved, not only with the work they put in, but with the daunting schedule they faced.

Kingsway stared down one of the most difficult schedules in South Jersey over the first half of 2017, yet every time the Dragons fell, they stood back up looking for another fight.

“Grit,” head coach Mark Hendricks said. “They know that in order for them to win games it’s gonna have to be a gritty performance. There’s nothing about our guys – by their stature, by their size, by their speed – that’s going to go out and win ballgames. We have to be right in a lot of different things and a lot of different facets of the game. … Our kids got to be gritty.”

Kingsway’s been that and then some this season.

While their record might not indicate it, the character of the program is upper echelon.

The losses “taught us just keep fighting, stick with each other,” Watson said.

The Dragons’ win was another lesson. It’s proof the program can battle through four quarters and celebrate following the final whistle.

Scerbo did that Friday night. He jumped in the air, looked for teammates to embrace. It’s just one victory, but it’s more than that.

It’s statistical confidence. It’s Parcells proof, and Kingsway intends to keep proving itself to the rest of South Jersey.

“It might sound cliché, but it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Watson said. “… From now on we don’t think we’re going to lose any games. We feel really good how we’re playing now.”